Archives for February 2010

Here we are, February 28, 2010 and we are about to end the last day of February! Are you ready? That means in March, we have a little over three weeks until Spring, and I am ready! I’m ready to see the sun set over Sharp Top Mountain and not way to the left of Sharp Top. I’m so ready for the March flowers to bloom so I can pick them and put them in a vase on my table, the Forsythia bushes to bloom their beautiful yellow flowers and the Dogwood trees with their beautiful pink and white blooms.

A little history about Spring ~ The March Equinox Explained

The March equinox will occur on March 20 in 2010, marking the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere and fall (autumn) in the southern hemisphere from an astronomical viewpoint. The March equinox will occur at 17:32 (or 5:32pm) at Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on this date.

This illustration, which shows an example only of the March equinox, is not to scale.

Twice a year, around March 20 or 21 and September 22 or 23, the sun shines directly on the equator and the length of day and night are nearly equal in all parts of the world. These two days are known as the March(vernal or spring in the northern hemisphere) equinox and the September equinox.

To find the March equinox date in other time zones or other years, please use the Seasons Calculator.
What does equinox mean?

The word “equinox” derives from the Latin words meaning “equal night” and refers to the time when the sun crosses the equator. At such times, day and night are everywhere of nearly equal length everywhere in the world.

It is important to note that while the March equinox marks the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere, it is the start of autumn in many parts of the southern hemisphere.
March Equinox Explained

The March equinox is the movement when the sun crosses the true celestial equator – or the line in the sky above the earth’s equator – from south to north, around March 20 (or March 21) of each year. At that time, day and night are balanced to nearly 12 hours each all over the world and the earth’s axis of rotation is perpendicular to the line connecting the centers of the earth and the sun.

In gyroscopic motion, the earth’s rotational axis migrates in a slow circle based as a consequence of the moon’s pull on a nonspherical earth. This nearly uniform motion causes the position of the equinoxes to move backwards along the ecliptic in a period of about 25,725 years.
Nearly Equal?

During the equinox, the length of night and day across the world is nearly, but not entirely, equal. This is because the day is slightly longer in places that are further away from the equator, and because the sun takes longer to rise and set in these locations. Furthermore, the sun takes longer to rise and set farther from the equator because it does not set straight down – it moves in a horizontal direction.

Moreover, there is an atmospheric refraction that causes the sun’s disk to appear higher in the sky than it would if earth had no atmosphere. timeanddate.com has a more detailed explanation on this topic. timeanddate.com has more information on why day and night are not exactly of equal length during the equinoxes.

During the March equinox, the length of daylight is about 12 hours and eight to nine minutes in areas that are about 30 degrees north or south of the equator, while areas that are 60 degrees north or south of the equator observe daylight for about 12 hours and 16 minutes. Many regions around the equator have a daylight length about 12 hours and six-and-a-half minutes during the March equinox.

Moreover, one day does not last for the exact same 24 hours across the world and due to time zone differences, there could be a small difference in the daylight length between a far-eastern and far-western location on the same latitude, as the sun moves further north during 24 hours. For more information, find out the length of day in a particular city. Select a location in the drop-down menu below to find out the length of day around the time of the March equinox.
Vernal Equinox vs. Autumnal Equinox

The vernal equinox occurs in the spring while the autumnal equinox occurs during fall (autumn). These terms are derivatives of Latin. It is important to note that the northern hemisphere’s vernal equinox is in March while its autumnal equinox is in September. In contrast, the southern hemisphere’s vernal equinox is in September and its autumnal equinox is in March.

This distinction reflects the seasonal differences when comparing the two hemispheres. timeanddate.com refers to the two equinoxes simply as the March and September equinoxes to avoid false assumptions that spring is in March and fall (autumn) is in September worldwide. This is simply not the case.
Historical Fact

A Greek astronomer and mathematician named Hipparchus (ca. 190-ca.120 BCE) was attributed by various sources to have discovered the precession of the equinoxes, the slow movement among the stars of the two opposite places where the sun crosses the celestial equator. Hipparchus made observations of the equinox and solstice. However, the difference between the sidereal and tropical years (the precession equivalent) was known to Aristarchus of Samos (around 280 BCE) prior to this.

Astronomers use the spring equinoctial point to define their frame of reference, and the movement of this point implies that the measured position of a star varies with the date of measurement. Hipparchus also compiled a star catalogue, but this has been lost.
March Equinox across Cultures

In the northern hemisphere the March equinox marks the start of spring and has long been celebrated as a time of rebirth. Many cultures and religions celebrate or observe holidays and festivals around the time of the March equinox, such as the Easter holiday period.

The astronomical Persian calendar begins its New Year on the day when the March equinox occurs before apparent noon (the midpoint of the day, sundial time, not clock time) in Tehran. The start of the New Year is postponed to the next day if the equinox is after noon.

She didn’t smoke, and she didn’t have a family history of lung cancer.

What she had was prolonged exposure to high levels of the radioactive gas radon. It’s likely that thousands of other Georgians are being exposed, too.

“When you first get the diagnosis, it’s shocking,” said Dobbs, who is 59 and has lived in her Monroe home for 30 years. “You think … where could it possibly come from?”

Radon is an invisible and odorless gas that breaks down from uranium, granite, shale and phosphate and seeps into soil and water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it’s the leading cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers and causes up to 14 percent of all lung cancer deaths each year in the U.S. That’s about 22,000 people. Georgia leads the Southeast, according to the EPA, with an average of 822 deaths yearly.

The EPA has drawn a red splash on its Georgia radon map, showing that homes, schools and businesses in the metro area’s four core counties — DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett and Cobb — are at highest risk for elevated radon levels. Radon testing advocates say living in a house with radon levels above the EPA’s suggested limit — 4.0 pCi / l (picu curies per liter of air) — is equivalent to smoking half a pack of cigarettes a day.

A simple test can detect radon and fairly inexpensive fixes can ease the problem.

A few states, including Minnesota and West Virginia, require venting systems in new houses. Oregon’s Senate passed a bill last week to require radon-resistant construction for new houses and public buildings in areas with high levels, as well as notification to home buyers about radon.

But most, including Georgia, have no laws or regulations governing radon.

A venting system can be installed when a house is built for as little as $300 and can be a selling point, said Robert Stephenson of Southface, an Atlanta nonprofit group that promotes green construction and contracts with the state Department of Community Affairs to help convince builders to build houses that are more radon resistant.

Retrofitting a system can cost as much as $2,000.

Becky Chenhall, an agent in Walton County for the University of Georgia’s Cooperative Extension, said education is key for consumers and for elected officials who can adopt regulations.

“We have got to educate more and more county officials, and then take it to the state level from there, as our building codes and requirements are updated,” she said.

Chenhall is one of five “radon educators” in Georgia working on a federal grant to states.

“We have many people who don’t know anything about radon,” said Edda Cotto-Rivera, an extension agent in DeKalb County and radon educator. “People might say 822 [deaths] doesn’t sound like a lot but if one of them is your sister or your mother, that’s one too much.”

In Gwinnett County, Peggy Wilson found a testing kit at a home show. She’s glad she did. She followed up with other tests, one of which came back at 5.1 pCi / l.

“I knew I didn’t want to continue to live in the house until it was mitigated,” the 75-year-old retired history teacher said. After about a year of tests and research, she hired a contractor to put in vent pipes in her three-bedroom ranch house that reduced the levels to 0.7 pCi / l in the her bedroom and 1.7 pCi / l in other areas of the house.

“I had a lot to learn,” she said. “And now I feel much more confident about the radon.”

In 2005, the U.S. Surgeon General issued a national health advisory about the dangers of indoor radon. The amount of radon seeping up from the earth and settling in houses varies by region. It’s affected by how houses are built and soil and weather conditions. Radon normally dissipates into the air, but houses can act like a vacuum, drawing the gas in through dirt floors, hollow-block walls, foundation cracks, and openings around floor drains and pipes.

Still, even just a few years ago, radon testing was nearly nonexistent, said Janey Lowe, an Atlanta realtor.

“Now, every inspector I use offers it,” said Lowe, who has been in the business for 22 years and works with Beacham & Co. Realtors. Last year, three out of about a dozen houses she sold had elevated radon levels.

Dobbs caught her cancer extremely early. Her doctor noticed a lung spot and sent her for more tests. Then, her oldest son did research on the Internet and pestered his parents to do radon testing.

A test showed 4.6 pCi / l of radon in the basement. Additional tests in her basement and upstairs bedroom showed higher levels.

“I never expected we would have radon,” Dobbs said. “My husband had talked about it. He’d seen it advertised. Check radon. And we never bothered to do anything about it. You think it’s not going to happen to you.”

Last June, she had surgery. Today, she is short of breath but her prognosis is good.

A contractor certified in radon mitigation has advised the Dobbs to use a plastic barrier in the basement to keep radon from seeping into the house. They plan to do more tests and determine if anything else is needed to lower the gas levels.

“I believe there’s a reason for everything,” Dobbs said. “You never want to say ‘why me?’ But maybe this happened to help other people. I caught mine early. They should just go ahead and get their [houses] checked.”

A quick radon primer

? Radon is an invisible and odorless radioactive gas that is the second leading cause of lung caner after smoking.

? Radon occurs naturally in mines, caves and water treatment plants. Radon that creeps out of the ground can enter houses and other buildings through cracks in concrete, floor gaps, small holes in walls and drains.

? The gas is measured in picoCuries per liter (pCi/L) of air. A picoCurie is a measure of the radioactivity of about a quart of air. Outdoor air is about 0.4 pCi/L. The average indoor level is about 1.3 pCi/L. Because radon is a natural part of the environment, there’s no such thing as a “0” level. The U.S. EPA has established 4.0 pCi/L as the “action level” for radon in homes, schools and workplaces.

The first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place not in Ireland but in the United States. Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City on March 17, 1762. Along with their music, the parade helped the soldiers reconnect with their Irish roots, as well as fellow Irishmen serving in the English army.

Over the next 35 years, Irish patriotism among American immigrants flourished, prompting the rise of so-called “Irish Aid” societies like the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick and the Hibernian Society. Each group would hold annual parades featuring bagpipes (which actually first became popular in the Scottish and British armies) and drums.

In 1848, several New York Irish Aid societies decided to unite their parades to form one New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Today, that parade is the world ‘s oldest civilian parade and the largest in the United States, with over 150,000 participants.

Each year, nearly three million people line the 1.5-mile parade route to watch the procession, which takes more than five hours. Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Savannah also celebrate the day with parades involving between 10,000 and 20,000 participants.

Wearing of the Green Goes Global
Today, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated by people of all backgrounds in the United States, Canada and Australia. Although North America is home to the largest productions, St. Patrick’s Day has been celebrated in other locations far from Ireland, including Japan, Singapore and Russia.

In modern-day Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day has traditionally been a religious occasion. In fact, up until the 1970s, Irish laws mandated that pubs be closed on March 17. Beginning in 1995, however, the Irish government began a national campaign to use St. Patrick’s Day as an opportunity to drive tourism and showcase Ireland to the rest of the world. Last year, close to one million people took part in Ireland ‘s St. Patrick’s Festival in Dublin, a multi-day celebration featuring parades, concerts, outdoor theater productions and fireworks shows.

The Chicago River

Chicago is famous for a somewhat peculiar annual event: dyeing the Chicago River green. The tradition started in 1962, when city pollution-control workers used dyes to trace illegal sewage discharges and realized that the green dye might provide a unique way to celebrate the holiday. That year, they released 100 pounds of green vegetable dye into the river—enough to keep it green for a week!

Today, in order to minimize environmental damage, only 40 pounds of dye are used, making the river green for only several hours. Although Chicago historians claim their city’s idea for a river of green was original, some Savannah natives believe the idea originated in their town. They point out that, in 1961, Savannah mayor Tom Woolley had plans for a green river. Due to rough waters on March 17, the experiment failed, and Savannah never attempted to dye its river again.

The Shamrock

The shamrock, which was also called the “seamroy” by the Celts, was a sacred plant in ancient Ireland because it symbolized the rebirth of spring. By the seventeenth century, the shamrock had become a symbol of emerging Irish nationalism. As the English began to seize Irish land and make laws against the use of the Irish language and the practice of Catholicism, many Irish began to wear the shamrock as a symbol of their pride in their heritage and their displeasure with English rule.
Irish Music

Music is often associated with St. Patrick’s Day—and Irish culture in general. From ancient days of the Celts, music has always been an important part of Irish life. The Celts had an oral culture, where religion, legend and history were passed from one generation to the next by way of stories and songs. After being conquered by the English, and forbidden to speak their own language, the Irish, like other oppressed peoples, turned to music to help them remember important events and hold on to their heritage and history. As it often stirred emotion and helped to galvanize people, music was outlawed by the English. During her reign, Queen Elizabeth I even decreed that all artists and pipers were to be arrested and hanged on the spot.

Today, traditional Irish bands like The Chieftains, the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem are gaining worldwide popularity. Their music is produced with instruments that have been used for centuries, including the fiddle, the uilleann pipes (a sort of elaborate bagpipe), the tin whistle (a sort of flute that is actually made of nickel-silver, brass or aluminum) and the bodhran (an ancient type of framedrum that was traditionally used in warfare rather than music).
The Snake

It has long been recounted that, during his mission in Ireland, St. Patrick once stood on a hilltop (which is now called Croagh Patrick), and with only a wooden staff by his side, banished all the snakes from Ireland.

In fact, the island nation was never home to any snakes. The “banishing of the snakes” was really a metaphor for the eradication of pagan ideology from Ireland and the triumph of Christianity. Within 200 years of Patrick’s arrival, Ireland was completely Christianized.

Corned Beef
Each year, thousands of Irish Americans gather with their loved ones on St. Patrick’s Day to share a “traditional” meal of corned beef and cabbage.

Though cabbage has long been an Irish food, corned beef only began to be associated with St. Patrick’s Day at the turn of the century.

Irish immigrants living on New York City’s Lower East Side substituted corned beef for their traditional dish of Irish bacon to save money. They learned about the cheaper alternative from their Jewish neighbors.

The Leprechaun
The original Irish name for these figures of folklore is “lobaircin,” meaning “small-bodied fellow.”

Belief in leprechauns probably stems from Celtic belief in fairies, tiny men and women who could use their magical powers to serve good or evil. In Celtic folktales, leprechauns were cranky souls, responsible for mending the shoes of the other fairies. Though only minor figures in Celtic folklore, leprechauns were known for their trickery, which they often used to protect their much-fabled treasure.

Leprechauns had nothing to do with St. Patrick or the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, a Catholic holy day. In 1959, Walt Disney released a film called Darby O’Gill & the Little People, which introduced America to a very different sort of leprechaun than the cantankerous little man of Irish folklore. This cheerful, friendly leprechaun is a purely American invention, but has quickly evolved into an easily recognizable symbol of both St. Patrick’s Day and Ireland in general.

We are so blessed to be living in North Georgia! One of the most beautiful times of the day is first thing in the morning when the sun comes up or at sunset. Yesterday evening, I got a wonderful picture of the sun as it was setting behind the North Georgia Mountains. We are truly fortunate to live in the North Georgia Mountains!!!

Opportunities are never lost, they are just found by someone else; typically by those who are PREPARED to notice them… We don’t see with our eyes, but rather our brains. We are bombarded with billions of bits of information every moment, but our minds only become AWARE of what is important and relevant to us (which varies depending on our frame of mind).

Fix your thoughts, focus and attention on good news and opportunity, and your brain literally goes to work seeking what it believes is ultra important to you.

Obsess on bad news, doom and gloom and— well, you get the picture…

Obviously, to remain AWARE and focus on what “IS” relevant and important is the key. Ron Graves would encourage everyone to remain OPTIMISTIC when dealing with adversity, and to make the CHOICE to proceed in one positive mind set, or the opposite. As an old PR guy, did you know that average person is exposed to over 8,000 to 10,000 commercial messages every day. From billboards to street signs to radio to television – everyone wants your attention!!!

Pick your target carefully; we find what we LOOK for (and this is a “target rich” environment.) (courtesy of Bill Johnson – his reply to Kit on FaceBook)

I had the opportunity to meet Kit Cummings a couple of weeks ago in Woodstock at a Re/Max Town and Country function plus he is one of my Facebook buddies. After meeting him and hearing some of his life’s experiences, I realize that he is the real deal; having been there and done it. Kit loves life and people and is a positive motivator through and through. He tells it like it is, saying it nicely and sometimes in a humorous manner, but still getting the point across. And a lot of people have taken his ‘point’ and put it to good use in their own lives. There are times in our lives when we feel like we are between a rock and a hard place and we need people in our lives like Kit.

Check him out at www.kitcummings.com and see if what he has to offer can work for you or maybe your company. Motivation is a good thing, when done in a positive manner.